Marriott studies 111-room Whitefish hotel
Marriott has filed pre-application paperwork with the Whitefish Planning Office for a three-story, 111-room hotel along U.S. 93 just south of Mountain Mall in Whitefish.
The preliminary application — not yet a formal application — details the design of the 63,171-square-foot TownePlace Suites by Marriott on three acres of wooded land near the Mountain Mall pond.
TownePlace Suites are designed for extended-stay travelers “who want to feel at home and stay productive,” the hotel corporation states. The hotel would offer a mix of rooms, including suites with full kitchens.
The Whitefish Architectural Review Committee will hold its second discussion about the design of the Marriott when the committee meets Tuesday, Feb. 2.
“This project will need City Council approval before there is any final approval from the Architectural Review Committee,” Senior Planner Wendy Compton-Ring said, noting that Marriott’s preliminary plans could change.
Architectural renderings submitted to the Planning Office show a hotel facade of natural stone, stucco and board-and-batten material.
The property is located in the secondary business district, which requires a conditional-use permit for building footprints over 15,000 square feet.
Marriott’s proposal is the third hotel project to surface in Whitefish over the past year.
The three-story, 86-room Firebrand Hotel is nearing completion at the downtown corner of Second Street and Spokane Avenue. It is expected to open in early June but is booking reservations for Aug. 1 and later in case of any delays. The Firebrand is being developed by Averill Hospitality, which also owns and operates The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.
On U.S. 93 South in Whitefish, a 76-room Hampton Inn and Suites is scheduled for completion in late spring or early summer. The 20,030-square-foot hotel, located off the highway behind the former Wendy’s restaurant site, also is three stories high.
If the Marriott TownePlace Suites project moves forward, it and the other two new hotels would add an additional 273 rooms to Whitefish’s lodging inventory that currently offers more than 1,127 rooms. That total does not include vacation rental-by-owner properties that are becoming increasingly popular in the resort town.
Hotel construction is underway in Columbia Falls and Kalispell, too.
Marriott is building a four-story, 101-room Springhill Suites in the Spring Prairie commercial subdivision in north Kalispell. That hotel is scheduled to open in late May.
Columbia Falls is getting its first new hotel within city limits. Construction is underway on Cedar Creek Lodge east of the city swimming pool and Pinewood Park. Ruis Holdings is building the three-story hotel in two phases. The first phase will have 64 rooms, with 18 future rooms planned pending demand.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.